A truck conveying eight suspected Boko Haram Islamists exploded near a military checkpoint in the north-east Nigerian city of Maiduguri on Tuesday, killing the occupants, an army spokesman told AFP. The open truck burst into flames when the explosives concealed in it went off as the insurgents were trying to escape from a military checkpoint, Colonel Sani Usman said.
"They attempted to detonate at a checkpoint but were denied access by troops and as they turned back, it exploded killing all the eight occupants," he said. The checkpoint was the last security post leading out of Maiduguri towards the town of Gubio which was liberated from Boko Haram fighters last year.